Coping with the past

UXO stands for "unexploded ordnance" - in other words, "unexploded bomb". Between 1964 and 1973, over 260 MILLION cluster bombs were dropped on Laos making it the most bombed country in the world. At the time, only two-thirds of the bombs exploded.

"US bombers dropped more ordnance on Laos in this period than was dropped during the whole of the second world war." (from an article in The Guardian, 2008). To fight against communism and North Vietnam, the U.S. recruited the ethnic Hmong tribe here in Laos. They trained them, paid them, and provided military weapons to them. I found this picture on the web of some of the "boy soldiers" who were enlisted. (source: http://www.everestinfo.org/laos2/index.php?page=Boy_Soldiers)

About 350,000 people died in this "Secret War" that not many Americans knew about at the time or recognize now.

Today, the bombs are still haunting people.  Over 13,000 people have been killed or maimed by working in the fields or searching for scrap metal. Many of the victims are young boys who fall prey to the "bomblets"  - about the size of a tennis balls - also known as "bombies."

I have to say, it was a real education for me to go to the Visitor Center at COPE.(Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise), an organization that provides prosthetic arms and legs to Lao people in need. At the little museum at the visitor center, I was amazed at the number of cluster bombs that had been dropped on Laos.  The museum had pieces of the shell casings with the "U.S.A." label still intact. They also showed how nowadays, the poverty-stricken people of the villages collect whatever scrap metal they can to sell and/or make things out of. In their searches, they often discover bombs that inadvertantly explode if they are dropped or hit against something. One video showed an interview with a village couple who had lost their little boy who, along with his friends, had picked up some unexploded bombs and banged them together. It was a heart-wrenching story as they explained how he had not died right away. They couldn't get him oxygen or blood in time to save him.

Other children and adults have lost legs and/or arms. There was one man who lost both arms and an eye who now speaks to educate the youth about the dangers of discovering the bombs. The t-shirt he's wearing in this photo is quite ironic. The COPE organization accepts donations to provide new limbs and rehabilitation for these people. Fifty dollars can buy a new leg, so that's what my family will be getting for Valentine's Day: donations made in their names in increments of $50. Here's the organization's website: http://www.copelaos.org/. They make it really easy to donate via PayPal - and they have a great website.

The Visitor Center also showed actual samples of things the villagers still make out of the bomb casings they find: flower planters, kitchen utensils, roofs, sidings, tools, and even make-shift artificial legs. Talk about ironic . . .

So, our stay at the museum was enlightening and intense. I felt strong emotion and still do when I think about the whole situation.

P.S. Here's another good website to learn more about this topic: http://www.legaciesofwar.org/node/113